Here I Stand
by Kanika Meskhenet
Summary: The Hitachiin's become the stylists of an upcoming Pop-star. However, this new charge of their's puts a strain on their relationship with Sei that could ruin all that Kaoru worked for...
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone, I'm back with the sequel to _It's a Twin Thing._ This one's going to be a little different, the first few chapters will be the last few days of school before they start their summer vacation, where the story takes place. I'm also, at the point, planning for this story to be a lot longer than the first one, but I guess I'll see where it leads to xP!

The beginning, with Tamaki and the twins, is something that me and my friends used to go around doing to people all the time when we were in high school. We decided that it's something Hikaru and Kaoru would do too lol

Anywayy, I hope you like the first chapter of _Here I Stand_! Please review at the end and tell me if you like it so far or not, and I appologize for this chapter being so short xP!

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**Here I Stand**

_Chapter One_

The last few days of school had come so quickly that the Host Club couldn't help but wonder where time had disappeared to! The last few months had been so full of drama that once things had had a chance to settle down it was as if the grains of sand slipped through the neck of the hour-glass at an unnaturely quick pace.

Sai was still being forced to take it easy despite the fact that he continuously argued that the wound was all healed and he really didn't need to stay home anymore for it. Though he always mysteriously seemed to be in pain whenever Kaniya came over in her nurse outfit to take care of him, which was every night after her photoshoots and commercial recordings. Itaru was locked up in juvie and it wasn't looking too good for him, which in turn _was_ good for Sei and her friends.

She absently stared out one of the windows in the 3rd Music Room, silently wishing for the sun to come out and for the rain to stop. Rain brought back the memories from when she was stuck in London away from her brother and all of her friends and those were thoughts that she'd rather forget.

A small smile slowly crept its way onto her lips as she recalled the last day she spent in London. Kaoru had showed up, soaking wet, at her doorstep with the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen and a proposal that she couldn't have ever considered turning down.

"Ano...Sei-kun?"

The fifteen year old blinked stupidly and turned her head back in the direction of the girls sitting at the table with her. Miwako was waving her hand infront of the green-eyed host's face, a concerned look etched on her face.

"I'm sorry princess, did you say something?" Sei smiled apologetically while sheepishly rubbing at the back of her head.

The tiny first year tilted her head to the side,"I asked if you knew what Hikaru and Kaoru were up to."

They both cast their gaze over to the ginger-haired twins who were inconspicuously following Tamaki around the room. Hikaru made a strange motion with his hand and then Kaoru disappeared behind a pillar while the older twin closed in on his target.

"What else?" Sei rolled her eyes at the Hitachiin's, though she couldn't help but to smile at their antics,"Harassing Tamaki-senpai."

Tamaki was clueless and unsuspecting as he put on his trademark charming smile and shamelessly flirted with a group of 1st and 2nd year girls. Hikaru smirked, moving in closer towards the blonde Host Prince, his arm extended and he quickly smacked Tamaki on the butt with a cry of,"Good game!"

"Hey!" Tamaki whirled around, but Hikaru had already vanished. Kaoru now took his chance, coming in from behind and lightly tapping the poor 2nd year on the bottom, mimicking his brother by yelling,"Good game!" and disappearing before Tamaki had the chance to turn around and catch him.

This went on for a few minutes, the rest of the Host Club watching in amusement as Tamaki became frustrated at the fact that he couldn't see who was doing this to him which could only lead to one conclusion....

"K-Kyouya! There's g-ghosts in the Host Club!" He cried out at last, falling to the floor dramatically and crawling over towards the Shadow King, clinging to the shady boy's leg.

"Tama-chan's silly!" Hunny giggled.

The two devious twins fell out from behind one of the couches, clutching onto eachother as they laughed so hard that they began to feel a knot of pain in their sides. Tamaki was on his feet in an instant, slowly putting two and two together and pointing an accusing finger at the identical boys,"You!"

Sei bit her lip to hold in her laughter,"Ah, excuse me for a moment, ladies."

The burgundy haired girl stood up and walked over to the fuming blonde, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Tamaki's expression softened as he took in his 'daughter' before him. The twins blinked curiously from their places on the floor before exchanging smirks.

"Tamaki-senpai you shouldn't give them the satisfaction of your annoyance. Take deep breaths." She instructed, watching as he paused to take in a deep breath and exhale it slowly to calm himself down.

"Now come sit down..." She led him over to one of the couches and sat him down, as his bottom hit the surface of the cushion a loud 'pfft!' sound ripped through the silence. Sei made a face of disgust, directing it at the innocent blonde 2nd year who had no idea what had just happened.

"Senpai! That's gross, you should be ashamed of yourself!" The emerald eyed girl scolded, wagging her index finger at him disapprovingly.

The tiny blonde senior scrunched up his nose,"Ew, Tama-chan pooted!"

Hikaru and Kaoru grinned at eachother before bursting into hysterics once again. Of course Tamaki would never suspect Sei of shoving a whoopie cushion (not that he, or really any at Ouran knew what that was) under his seat before he sat down, he still viewed her as his innocent 'daughter'. The younger Hitachiin twin felt his lips twitch as he stared adoringly at his fiancée, who by now was far from innocent after having spent so much time with him and his brother for the past few months. He was proud to say that his and Hikaru's mischievous ways were rubbing off on her.

Tamaki bit his lip, waving his arms infront of him frantically in a defensive way,"No, no! I didn't, I swear!"

"Poor Tamaki-senpai, losing control of himself like that infront of everyone must be so embarassing!" One girl whispered to her friend, sending sympathetic looks in the Host King's direction.

"But I--" Tamaki buried his face in his hands,"--I am ashamed, I didn't even know! I'm so sorry that you had to witness a scene such as that one, ladies!"

Sei bit her lip, casting a glance over her shoulder at the two golden eyed boys who were laying across eachother on the floor giggling like madhatters. Kaoru met her gaze and was on his feet in a flash, his brother following suit.

They sauntered over to her, each slinging an arm across her shoulders and tilting their heads.

"Oi, tono." Hikaru called boredly.

"Can't you learn to take a joke?" Kaoru smirked.

"Maybe that's why he's so much fun--" Sei grinned.

"--to mess with." Kaoru and Hikaru finished for her.

Tamaki's hands fell into his lap as he stared up at the three with an incredulous gasp.

"Sei, you mean to tell me that _you_ were involved with these...these dopplegangers and their shenanigans?" He seemed very surprised at this realization,"Have I not been a good father? That my own daughter would rebel against the teachings I have bestowed upon her?"

She frowned,"Are you ever going to stop calling me your daughter?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes,"Your delusional tirades are really getting tiresome, Tamaki-senpai."

At hearing those words the club's 'father' melted into a puddle and re-materializaed in the corner of the room where he sat in the fetal position, tracing circles on the floor with his index finger.

"Oh no, he's broken!" One of the girls that Tamaki had been entertaining wailed.

The twins gazed shifted towards the group of girls who had designated the broken blonde,"Ya'know, Tamaki would love nothing more than for you lovely ladies to pick him up out of his depression."

That seemed to lift their spirits as the girls gracefully stood up and crowded around Tamaki, cooing sweet words of encouragement to him. The 2nd year seemed to brighten up at the attention he was receiving and was on his feet, quickly resuming his suave role as the Prince type.

Kaoru turned to Sei and grinned,"I told you it would be fun."

She laughed in return,"And next time I'll believe you when you say something."

Hikaru laughed and then smirked at his brother's crestfallen expression.

"Y-you mean that you don't believe the things I say..?"

The burgundy haired girl swept past her fiancé with a coy smile, leaving him to ponder about what she'd truly meant as she went back to sit with her designates.

Kaiya shot Sei an adoring smile, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear shyly,"I see you and Hikaru and Kaoru are getting along."

Miwako scrunched up her face in concentration,"I don't remember them ever not getting along..."

The tiny girl with long chestnut colored hair accompanied by chunks of black streaked through her silky locks gave Miwako a knowing wink. "It's not that they acted that way infront of any of us, but you could tell by the looks they'd shoot eachother, but for the past few months it's as if they'd always gotten along so well." Kaiya turned to Sei,"I wonder why...perhaps Sei-kun and the Hitachiin's are trapped within a love-triangle, ne?"

Miwako's eyes lit up at the prospect of a threesome between the three attractive boys of the Host Club,"I-is this t-true, Sei-kun?" her cheeks flushed.

The emerald eyed host laughed nervously at how eerily correct Riitaki Kaiya's assumption had been, with the exception that Hikaru wasn't involved with her and his brother's relationship other than being there to tease them about it good naturedly.

She remembered how Kaoru had come to her one night a few months ago telling her how much Hikaru feared losing him to her. It had all made sense to her after that, the reasons for Hikaru always trying to start fights with her, the jeering sarcasm, and she felt a little moved by the fact and had realized that they had something in common. They both feared losing their brother...

Since then she made sure that the boys had their brotherly time together and made sure to include him whenever she and Kaoru went out, though that didn't mean that she and Kaoru didn't have their alone time either. Hikaru had lightened up on her considerably and sometimes even demanded that she come and take his brother out somewhere to get him out of his hair.

"Oh! Look Kaiya-chan, he's smiling!"

"Must mean that what I just said is true." Kaiya looked pleased with herself, in a fangirlish sort of way.

Sei snapped out of it and waved her arms around defensively,"No, no! That's not it, I--" she blinked as Hikaru and Kaoru took seats on either side of her.

"Looks like Riitaki-_hime _figured it all out." Hikaru shrugged in defeat.

"No need to pretend anymore, love, the jig's up." Kaoru finished, taking his index finger and tugging gently at her chin so that she was staring directly into his eyes.

Sei closed her eyes and lowered her voice to a whisper for added effect,"Oh Kaoru, I'm so glad that we don't have to hide our love from the world any longer..."

Hikaru frowned,"Kaoru...how could you, does my love mean nothing to you?"

She opened her eyes and tilted her head, watching as Kaoru acted like he was torn between the two. Sei had to admit that the brothers could put on a good show, she'd have to step up her game to make it more believable.

Kaoru bit his lip, furrowing his brows,"Hikaru, you know that's not true!"

Sei gasped loudly,"Kaoru, what're you trying to say? That your brother means more to you than...than I do?"

The room was eerily silent, all eyes on the three who were making a scene in the center of the room, surrounded by the girls waiting with baited breaths to hear Kaoru's answer.

Kaoru shook his head rapidly,"N-no! I-I love you both, I simply cannot chose!" he looked away dramatically.

Sei and Hikaru exchanged a glance before the eldest Hitachiin smirked,"You know, I don't really like to share...however,"he paused, tossing an arm across her shoulders,"he gives you the same look he does me when we're alone at night...so I'm willing to give this a try."

She laughed,"Thanks for your blessing, Hikaru." and kissed his cheek, giggling as his face flushed red from the unexpected contact. Kaoru pouted playfully until she gave in and kissed his cheek aswell.

At that moment the entire room, or atleast the females, squealed in fangirl bliss at the scene. Brotherly love was one enjoyable taboo, but a threesome involving the twins and Sei was even better! Kyouya raised an eyebrow and scribbled away at his clipboard.

"Ne,Takashi, I wonder what Kyo-chan writes on his clipboard..." Hunny tilted his head curiously at the bespectacled Shadow King before Ami, a girl in his class, offered him a bite of her cake.

The rest of the afternoon passed with Sei and Hikaru flirting shamelessly with Kaoru, and him pretending to blush from the attention of the two. The girls left the Host Club fanning themselves, stars still in their eyes as they chatted loudly and squealed to eachother fangirlishly about the eventful day.

"Ah what a productive day, don't you think?" Tamaki spun around with his arms in the air.

Hikaru laughed,"I'll say, I'm actually kind of tired." he shot a glance over his shoulder at his brother,"Don't stay out too late, Kaoru."

Kaoru nodded and waved to his brother as he left to go home by himself. The ginger haired boy turned around and smiled affectionately at Sei who beamed back at him.

"You ready to go?"

He nodded and as Sei turned to head for the door he reached out and grabbed onto her arm, preventing her from going any further. She whirled around to face him, confused, but gave no objection when he pulled her close to him in a tight embrace.

"Sei..." She felt his hot breath tickle the back of her neck as he whispered in her ear, sending shivers up her spine,"Happy birthday, love."


	2. Chapter 2

Wow. I haven't updated in forever! But I've been working on this chapter all semester it seems, everyday during class I'd add a paragraph or two when the lecture got boring. Everything's been so hectic, first, I started college *not sure if I mentioned this somewhere before xD*  
And first semester is now officially OVER. I just completed all of my exams today, yay!

And I hate Chemistry class, but my Professor looks EXACTLY like Remus Lupin, can you say FAVORITE TEACHER EVER?! Haha. Yeah, anyway…

I'd like to thank; **viettvnt, mycarelesswhisper, ColinatorGX, xx3OH3xx, Haruka_Oujo, have-a-cookie, LookOutShe'sGotAPen, BloodAngelKisses, unknown player**, and **NarniaLover**. You guys are awesomesauce.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's a bit of a filler…nothing too important happening yet.

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**Here I Stand**  
_Chapter Two_

"You know, I didn't say anything when you were listening to 'Barbie Girl' because at the time I just thought it was to distract me from being suspicious about where we were going." Sei stared at her brother, one eyebrow arched high above the other, "But now I'm beginning to question your sexuality, Kani-chan you must be with me on this one, ne?"

The burgundy haired girl sent her blonde haired friend a pleading stare, begging for her to agree with her. Kaoru chuckled from his seat nestled up beside Sei, his arm resting around her waist in a possessive manor. In the rear-view mirror Sei could see the bright blue eyes of Kaniya darting to look back at her in the backseat apologetically.

"Sorry Nana-chan, but I don't see it."

"What?! You've _got_ to be kidding me! Just _listen_ to the song!"

Sai laughed from the front seat and sang along with the lyrics to further annoy his sister, who threw her arms up in the air and groaned loudly.

"_It's Raining Men! Hallelujah! - It's Raining Men! Amen!  
I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get  
Absolutely soaking wet!  
It's Raining Men! Hallelujah!  
It's Raining Men! Every Specimen!  
Tall, blonde, dark and lean  
Rough and tough and strong and mean_!"

"And no one but me finds this a little weird?" Sei asked incredulously, silence followed. "Fine, whatever, you guys are all crazy!"

The other three situated in the car laughed at her exasperated attempts to persuade them in to agreeing with her which ultimately led to be a fruitless venture. Kaniya pulled the car to a stop infront of an old building in the Downtown area and parked the car while the twins gave her a confused look.

The building was old and the bricks were chipped off in some places from age or blunt force, Sei wasn't sure which, and along the side of the building ivy grew in vines up the wall. The blinking sign on the front of the building read "Tokyo Lanes" with a bowling ball and pins in the center of the two words. Sei and Sai blinked before exchanging identical grins, they loved to bowl. Kaoru shot the three a curious look, he wasn't sure what this place was, even if he and Kaniya had planned out this very day several weeks in advance the concept of commoners getting together to roll big heavy balls down a lane in hopes of knocking down pins just didn't make sense to him.

"Did you know about this? No, I didn't!" Sei and Sai both turned to each other, speaking in unison excitedly.

The burgundy haired girl whirled around and tilted her head, "Have you ever been bowling, Kaoru?"

"Can't say that I have..." He spoke truthfully, eyeing the old building skeptically. Though he had to admit that even though the building was old there must've been something about it that people enjoyed, the whole parking lot was packed full of various models of cars and there were several small groups of people mulling about.

The petite blonde stared at him incredulously, "What? You've never been bowling before? Why not? It's wicked fun, Kao-chan!"

The ginger-haired boy shrugged, pulling Sei closer to him protectively as a group of particularly rowdy boys walked by, eyeing the two girls hungrily. Kaniya lazily wrapped an arm around Sai's waist and tugged him towards the door, not even waiting for Kaoru's reply.

"C'mon guys! I've got a surprise for youuu!" Kaniya giggled, bouncing energetically into the building with Sai at her side.

Sei tilted her head upwards, angling it so that she could see Kaoru's face more clearly, "Surprise? Did you know about this?"

He grinned, tightening his grip around her and gently pulling her towards the door as well, "We should get inside, your brother and Kaniya are probably already set up with their...isles...or whatever they're called."

"Close, but you mean our _lane_?" The emerald eyed girl giggled, completely ignoring the fact that he had skillfully managed to change the subject without giving in to what this supposed surprise was.

As soon as the two entered the double doors to the Bowling Alley Sei felt herself being tackled by two other bodies and squeezed into an embrace so tight that she could have sworn that she heard her lungs pop inside her chest. When the two bodies finally released her from their death hug she swayed a little on her feet and noticed, for the first time, Hunny and Tamaki standing infront of her with grins that could rival the Cheshire Cat's.

"Happy Birthday Nana-chan!" The tiny senior bounced up and latched himself around her waist, snuggling into her stomach affectionately.

"My daughter is officially a woman now! Does that mean I have to sit her down for 'The Talk'? Oh God, mother!" Tamaki wailed,"That's the mother's job, teach our daughter the importance of abstinence!"

Kyouya arched an eyebrow at the eccentric blonde,"Isn't that the duty of the protective father?"

"You're absolutely right! Sei, I shall teach you in the ways of absti—where'd she go?" Tamaki tilted his head, peering around the room to try and find out where the burgundy haired girl had run off to.

Sai let out a loud bark of laughter,"Sorry to disappoint, but our mother gave us the talk back when we were like…twelve."

Tamaki pouted,"Where'd she go then..?"

Kaniya bounced over to the group with Sei,"To get our bowling shoes, silly!"

The blonde host king looked positively affronted, staring down at the used shoes on Sei and Kaniya's feet with blatant distaste,"B-but...commoner's shoes are riddled with germs!"

Haruhi narrowed her eyes at him and huffed and he quickly realized his mistake, rushing over to her with his arms spread out wide as if to give her a hug, to which she promptly dodged, ducking under his arms and coming to stand beside Sei and Kaniya.

"They sanitize the shoes after they're worn, Tamaki-senpai." Haruhi rolled her eyes in annoyance as she tied the laces of her bowling shoes and went to find a bowling ball to use.

Tamaki bit his lip, torn between going with Haruhi and the fact that the building was dirty and full of germs.

Hikaru tilted his head,"Normal people, like us for instance, would have gone on a cruise or something for their birthday, but of course you had to be the exception and want to go to a commoner's bowling alley."

Sei and Sai linked arms with eachother and grinned broadly,"We've loved bowlling ever since we were little, so of course this was the natural pick for Kaniya when she was deciding what to do for our birthday!"

Haruhi gave the Tsukyoshii twins an incredulous look,"It's strange that you two grew up doing normal things like bowling when you were filthy rich like the rest of them..."

Sai shrugged,"Actually, it was mostly Yamina, she took care of us when we were little—"

"-and she didn't want us to grow up spoiled and bratty like most other rich kids, so she took us out to places like this." Sei finished with a flourish.

"Too bad the rest of them didn't have such fortune as you did with this Yamina lady," Haruhi sighed,"otherwise maybe they wouldn't be so embarrassing in public."

Hunny's lower lip jutted out in a pout,"Haru-chan doesn't like going out with us?"

The doe-eyed Host groaned inwardly,"Well, you guys are kind of ignorant to what you would call the 'commoner world' and it's really hard for me to voluntarily associate with you outside of school sometimes because of it."

Tamaki doubled over dramatically as an invisible arrow pierced through his heart,"My own daughter, ashamed of her father...how could I let this happen...?"

"It wasn't that hard." Haruhi arched an eyebrow.

"Are we going to play this commoner game or what?" Hikaru crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently, bringing everyone's attention back to him.

Kaniya and Hunny bounced excitedly, "Yay! Let's play, let's play!"

Kaniya, Sei, Sai, and Haruhi set to work explaining the rules of the game for the Host Club…very slowly so even their fragile minds could comprehend the inner workings of Bowling. Soon they had split into two groups of five and were competing against each other for the highest score. One group consisted of Kaniya, Sei, Sai, Haruhi, and Kaoru while the other was made up of Tamaki, Hikaru, Hunny, Mori, and Kyouya. Needless to say, Kaniya's group was winning as they were far more experienced in the game than the others were, despite the fact that Tamaki's team was playing with the bumpers up.

"I don't understand how you keep getting gutter balls Tamaki-senpai!" Sei shook her head.

Kaoru snickered, "Tono just isn't cut out for commoner games."

The blonde host king bit his quivering lower lip as tears welled up in his eyes at the ginger-haired boy's suggestion. How could he not be good at commoner games? He just wanted to learn to play so that he and his daughter, Haruhi, could become closer and that his father-daughter relationship could blossom to a whole new level.

"I'm hungry, I vote we go get something to eat, who's with me?" Sai laughed when his sister was the first to raise her hand,"You're always hungry, Sei."

A light tinge of pink dusted over her cheeks before she gently punched his arm playfully, "Shut up, you."

Hikaru and Kaoru laughed, each of them slinging an arm across her shoulders,"C'mon little piggy, let's go get something to stuff your face with!"

Sei glared vehemently at her brother from over her shoulder as the Hitachiin's led her out to the parking lot where Kaniya's car was parked and waited for her to unlock the doors. To add to her annoyance, she could hear Sai's laughter all the way from inside the bowling alley, only to be amplified as he came through the double doors that led to the parking lot.

"Haha, little piggy." Sai grinned and winked at her before quickly getting into the car before she could lunge forward and strangle him. Hikaru and Kaoru snickered at the intensity of the red that was flooding her face.

Kaoru kissed her cheek softly and gently guided her into the back of the car after Hikaru had slid in, thus putting her in-between the Hitachiin twins. She grumbled something inaudible under her breath, followed by an amused chuckle from the front seat, and laid her head on Kaoru's shoulder.

"Oh, Sei I have something to tell you..." Sai started quietly from the front seat and her curiosity was immediately peaked.

"Yeah?"

"Kaniya invited me to go with her and her family to Argentina once school gets out to go skiing."

She bit her lip, "You're gonna be gone the whole vacation?"

Kaoru and Hikaru wrapped their arms around her and nuzzled each side of her face affectionately,"Nanami-chan will stay with us over vacation! Okaasan has been dying to meet you!"

Kaniya frowned,"I really wanted you to come with us too, Nana-chan! But 'kaasan and 'tousan are hard to persuade, it took months of begging for them to let Kai-kun come..."

Sei shook her head and smiled,"No, no it's fine Kani-chan! Staying with Kaoru and Hikaru won't be _so_ bad."

The Hitachiins faltered, narrowing their eyes accusingly, "Hey!"

Sai laughed, "Remember, if you need me just call and I'll be there as soon as I can to rescue my baby sister!"

"Hey! We're not some creepy pedophiles, you know!" Kaoru jutted out his lower lip in a cute pout while his brother huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know, I know. I'll make sure to pack my rape whistle, I promise!" Sei grinned.

"That's my girl!" Sai laughed, reaching around the seat to give his sister a high-five while the Hitachiin twins wore identical pouts.

Kaniya giggled from the driver's seat and glanced in the rear-view mirror to look at them, "You guys are so silly, no wonder you get along so well!"

The three in the back seat were momentarily caught off guard by the blonde's simple statement, identical grins slowly crept onto their faces. Hikaru had never really thought about it before and he didn't think that his brother had either, but he really was grateful that the three of them got along so well. They were a puzzle and Sei was the final fitting piece that completed the picture and made things clear.

"I'm deeply hurt by the insinuation that we're going to take advantage of Nanami-chan!" Hikaru huffed in mock offense.

Kaoru smirked,"It's not like it's actually possible to rape the willing though."

A light tinge of pink dusted over her cheeks as the particular thought of her and Hikaru and Kaoru entered her mind.

"Well why not? The girls at Ouran seem to like the idea of a love triangle between us, why not make it a reality and give them what they want?" Hikaru smirked, whispering into her ear and effectively sending shivers up her spine.

Sai laughed,"Ouran girls are really into that?"

"Yeah, it makes me wonder if I hadn't had you around if I would've turned out like that..." Sei mused thoughtfully to her brother.

"Wait Sei, so you're telling me that you don't fantasize about hot, steamy Hitachiincest?" Kaniya asked as they pulled up to the restaurant that she had made reservations at.

Kaoru tilted his head to the side in confusion as he held his hand out to Sei to help her out. Hikaru looked equally baffled until it turned into amusement.

"They actually call it that?" He turned to his brother,"Why didn't we think of that?"

The younger of the ginger-haired boys shrugged, equally confuddled by the thought.

"What is this place?" Tamaki stared at the building in awe.

"It's a restaurant, senpai." Haruhi dead-panned, giving the blonde host king a very annoyed look.

"But...why're there tables outside?" Hunny tilted his head to the side cutely, gazing at the tables scattered around the outside patio of the restaurant in confusion.

Hikaru rolled his eyes, "Isn't it obvious? It's so that commoners can feel more at home in an environment that reminds them of their poor ancestry of working outside."

"That...has nothing to do with it!" Haruhi narrowed her eyes.

"Haven't you ever been to those cafes in France? They have the tables outside too." Sai laughed, entwining his fingers with Kaniya as they marched up to the Maitre D to get their tables.

Tamaki thought about it for a minute, "Hikaru, you're wrong! It's not so that they can feel more familiar with their surroundings, it's so that they can feel special in a pseudo-rich environment!"

The Hitachiins made an 'o' with their mouths, as if the world finally made sense.

"No, that's the stupidest thing you've ever said." Haruhi groaned, running a hand through her short brown hair and shooting the blonde host king a reproachful glare.

Tamaki faltered and fell onto the pavement dramatically, absently tracing shapes on the concrete.

"Right zis vay." The host spoke in a heavy accent, leading them over to two booth's that were back to back.

Hikaru slide into the first seat, followed by Sei and Kaoru while Sai and Kaniya took the seat across from them. Tamaki pulled Haruhi into the booth that was right up against the one that Hitachiins were sitting in. Hunny giggled and hopped into the empty space on Haruhi's other side, leaving Kyouya and Mori to sit across from them.

"May I start you off wis a drink?"

Once everyone had told the waiter what they wanted to drink they began to look through the menu to see what they wanted for dinner. Hunny flipped to the back of the menu where they kept a list of desserts and his eyes lit up happily.

"Waii~! Takashi they have chocolate fudge cake!"

"Eat some protein first, Mitsukuni."

Hunny knitted his eyebrows together,"But Takashiii~!"

"Mitsukuni." Mori's voice held a stern, yet gentle, tone of command but Hunny matched him with his intense puppy dog eyes.

Sei was almost certain that Hunny would get his way no matter what because no way could Mori go against his cousin without giving in to his desires. To her surprise Hunny relented, scooting back in his seat with a pout pulling at his lower lip.

"So, how does it feel to be the big 16? Sweet 16, baby!" Kaniya bounced excitedly while glancing back and forth between Sai and Sei.

The red-heads exchanged glanced before shrugging,"No different than how we felt yesterday or the day before."

The blonde pouted, snuggling closer into the side of Sai,"Boo. I'm going to miss you so much this summer…"

Sei paused a moment before tilting her head,"Wait…where did that come from?"

"The menu has a pretty picture of the Swiss Alps and it reminded me that I won't be seeing you for most of the summer…"

"Oh." The emerald eyed girl bit her lip,"I'm gonna miss you guys too. Promise to call me, yeah?"

Sai stretched his hand across the table and entwined his fingers with his sister's,"I, Kaito-Sai, solemnly swear that I will call you every night. And should I go against my word then you have my permission to paint my room hot pink and line my shelves with Barbie and every one of her friends."

Hikaru and Kaoru snickered into the palms of their hands, amused by the burgundy haired boy's statement.

"Agreed." Sei laughed,"However…that was oddly specific and now I'm beginning to doubt the spontaneity of that statement."

Hikaru smirked,"Do I detect the use of reverse psychology?"

Kaniya giggled at Sai's suspicious expression,"Kai-kun…are you implying that that's what you want her to do while we're gone?"

"N-no! Of course not!" He stuttered, his eyes shifting back and forth.

Sei smirked, "Sai's lost all his man-cards."

Hikaru and Kaoru snickered, both of them simultaneously pulling her close to them and resting their foreheads on her shoulder while they laughed.

Without missing a beat Sai grinned,"Well, can I borrow some of yours then?"

Tamaki glanced over at them curiously, clearly not understanding the conversation that was being had. He took it completely seriously.

Kaniya gasped,"Nana-chan! You…I didn't know you were a…why did you never tell me?!"

Sei laughed,"Well you know me, secretly I was trying to get you to fall in love with me and ditch Sai!"

The blonde model giggled flirtatiously, "Oh Nana-chan! I've always loved you, I was just afraid to come out and say it out loud for fear of what you'd think…"

Sai frowned,"What about me?"

Kaniya shrugged,"I was pretty much just using you to get to Nana-chan."

Sai gasped to turned to glare accusingly at his sister, "You've been planning this all along haven't you?!"

"Since the very first day, baby."

The burgundy haired boy feigned a sob, staring heartbrokenly between his sister and his girlfriend. Tamaki's confusion deepened.

"Sei's a boy? No no! I've seen my daughter getting dressed, there's no doubt about her gender!" Tamaki was flabbergasted.

Sai paused in what he was saying and fixated Tamaki with a penetrating glare. Protective older brother mode had just been turned on and the thought if someone seeing his sister half naked did not make him a very happy camper.

"You…_what_?"

Tamaki got really quiet, sinking into his booth seat under Sai's focused stare, little beads of sweat beginning to form on his brow out of nervousness. He seemed to be looking everywhere _but_ at Sai, completely unaware of the snickers directed towards him from the Hitachiin twins.

"I—uh—it wasn't intentional I would never look at Sei like that!"

Offended, Sei narrowed her eyes, "And why not? Am I not good enough for you?"

Tamaki stumbled through his thoughts, not wanting to say the wrong thing to the wrong twin,"No! No it's not—you're very beautiful Sei!"

"…Are you coming on to me Tamaki-senpai?!"

Sai growled, "_Are_ you coming on to my sister, blondie?!"

The poor 2nd year student looked as pale as a ghost, terrified by the wrath of the Tsukyoshii twins. Both tables were silent for a total of five excruciating minutes, staring between Sei and Sai and then over to Tamaki who was sweating bullets.

"Well, I suppose it's not so bad, he's only walked in on me once. Poor Haruhi's been walked in on twice!"

Sai frowned, "Wow, Tamaki is more of a pervert than I gave him credit for!"

"He's actually a genius, hiding behind the façade of stupidity."

Tamaki wasn't sure whether to be flattered or offended by that particular statement.

The group ordered their food soon after and fell in to casual chatter over random topics that would pop into their minds as they ate. All in all, Sei and Sai were glad that they got to spend their 16th birthday surrounded by friends who knew them better than anyone else.

"I'll be right back I need some air." Sei nudged Kaoru gently and he quickly stood up, helping her to her feet.

"Me too."

She stared in confusion as he followed her outside, his fingers entwined with her smaller, more delicate ones. Amber eyes stared lovingly into emerald green ones.

"Having a good birthday, so far?" He whispered in her ear, sending shivers up her spine.

Unable to formulate the right words to respond with she nodded, feeling her insides melt by the swarm of affection wash over her. He gently lifted her chin with his index finger so that she was staring into his mesmerizing golden eyes. Lowering his face slowly down to meet hers, Sei wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed herself up the rest of the way, capturing his lips with her own. They stayed like this for what felt like an eternity, enjoying their moment together. Kaoru was the one to break away for air first, resting his forehead against hers, a loopy grin pulling his lips upwards.

"Happy birthday, Nanami." He pulled out a long slender blue velvet box and sheepishly handed it to her.

"What's this?" The burgundy haired girl tilted her head to the side.

"A giraffe," He laughed,"what do you think it is? It's a birthday present, silly."

She rolled her eyes, carefully opening the velvet box and gasping. Inside was a beautiful silver charm bracelet with little silver stars and music notes tastefully placed around the base of the chain.

"Oh wow…Kaoru, it's amazing." She tore her eyes away from the bracelet for a moment to stare up at him, her eyes alight with elation.

"Because you're my shining star, filling my heart with a symphony of love." He gently lifted up the jewelry from its box and helped her get it clasped around her left wrist, holding her hand up to his lips and placing a tender kiss on each of her knuckles.

Sei blushed,"You're so corny."

Kaoru grinned like an idiot,"But you love it."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Nanami." He nuzzled her cheek, leading her back inside to enjoy the rest of the night with their friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Wahh~! I haven't updated in a super long time, I'm so sorry D:!  
I don't really have an excuse other than I've been really busy with class and assignments…and then I got too in to my newest story "Wherever You Will Go" and I sort of..forgot about this one.

But don't worry, I'm back on track! And the next chapter shouldn't take too long to put out, I've already got about half of it written. Actually it was supposed to be chapter three and then someone mentioned that they wanted to read about what happened with Sei during her stay with the Hitachiins so I put that on hold and wrote this up, so what was SUPPOSED to be chapter 3 will now be chapter 4 (or 5, depending on whether or not I get any more ideas for Sei's stay at the Hitachiin estate) lol.

But I won't be able to finish it up this weekend because Jack's Mannequin (if you don't know who they are, you should definitely give that band a listen, his music is fantastic!) is coming to my college town and doing a free show for our little city so that'll be fun. If anyone's up in the Oneonta area (doubt it, it's so tinyyy! XD) come stop by on Saturday! It'll be fun!

Anywho, I'd like to thank my very long list of reviewers!

**Haruka_Oujo , viettvnt , KageNoNeko, unknown_player , have-a-cookie , ChalkMuffins, xx3OH3xx, warning746**, and **Aurora-16.  
**You guys are absolutely fantastic, thank you so much for you support!

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x  
**Here I Stand**  
_Chapter Three_

Kaniya and her family had swung by to pick up Sai a bit earlier than his sister would have liked. Sure she was happy that he was getting to spend the majority of the summer with the tiny blonde model, but Sei was going to miss him terribly. He was her other half, her partner in crime, her twin brother. Vacation was definitely going to be different without him and Kaniya around that was for sure. Of course, she'd have Hikaru and Kaoru to keep her company, which she was highly grateful for, no _way_ would she stay all alone with her father (who came and went as he pleased) for the entirety of vacation.

Running a hand through her choppy layered red hair, Sei let out a sigh, waving goodbye to Sai and Kaniya as they joined the latter's parents in the limo. The three of them had said their long, heartfelt goodbyes earlier that day so as not to bother the strict parents of Kaniya.

Yasai wove between her legs and whimpered, his way of telling her that he wanted attention. Smiling fondly down at the fox at her heels Sei bent over and lifted him off the floor, cradling him in her arms.

"I know, I miss him already too." She buried her face in his fluffy neck.

"Nanami-Sei, you alright honey?" Yamina frowned sympathetically at the young girl.

Bringing her head up she nodded weakly, offering the worried woman a small smile, attempting to reassure not only Yamina, but herself as well.

"I'll be okay."

Yamina didn't look too convinced, "Well, finish your packing and I'll be up shortly with something that'll make you feel better."

"Okay." Sei was glad that she at least had Yamina left in the house to look out for her.

Yasai nuzzled her cheek and licked her nose affectionately, snuggling in to the crook of her neck and making a contented sigh-like noise. Sei kissed the top of his head and turned away from the door, marching up the winding staircase and down the hallway to her room.

Inside was an absolute mess! It look as if not only a tornado had zipped through but also a herd of angry, frustrated, and famished sumo wrestlers had done jumping jacks around her room. Various clothing articles were strewn across the floor, hanging off her bookshelves, and carelessly tossed over her bedposts. Yasai snorted at the disaster site that was his master's bedroom.

"Hey, don't give me that look! I have an excuse for the mess at least…" She defended, setting the fluffy creature down on her bed while she continued stuffing clothes and other things that she'd need in to her large suitcase.

"Well, it's not like we're leaving the country so if I forget anything we can just come back to get it, yeah?" She closed the lid of the suitcase and zipped it up, safely sealing the contents inside.

A soft knock came at the door causing her to glance up in time to see the kind, motherly face of Yamina who smiled as she held out a cup to Sei, "Thought a chocolate milkshake might lift your spirits a bit."

Sei gladly accepted the frothy chocolaty beverage, taking a long swig of the frosty ice-cream clumped drink.

"Delicious as always Yamina! Thank you, that really helped."

"I thought it might." The older woman grinned knowingly before leaving the room.

The burgundy haired girl finished her milkshake in no time at all, she was known around the mansion for downing milkshakes in 30 seconds flat; they were her favorite type of drink. Whenever she was upset Sai or Yamina would always make her one to help cheer her up, and it always worked. Oh the power of chocolate ice-cream.

"Oi, Nanami-chan, you ready?" Kaoru burst through the door excitedly, bounding over to her and kissing her tenderly on the lips.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you for another…" She back glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table and frowned, "…10 minutes ago."

The ginger-haired boy shrugged, grinning sheepishly, "Traffic was a nightmare, sorry we're late. How can I ever make it up to you?"

"Oh I can think of a few ways…" She smirked, moving in for another kiss.

"Oh gross! Get a room you two, jeez." Hikaru made a disgusted face, leaning up against the doorframe with his arms crossed coolly over his chest.

"Um, Hikaru…we've got one…you're just intruding." Sei frowned.

The eldest Hitachiin brother blanched, stepping forward, "Well, then let's get your stuff and get out of here so the two of you can't get all mushy lovey-dovey."

Kaoru chuckled, pulling apart from his girl and sending his brother an amused grin, "You should be used to it by now, eh Hikaru?"

His brother said nothing and instead busied himself with grabbing the handle of Sei's suitcase and dragging it down the stairs leaving the two behind with an aggravated huff. Kaoru knew his brother well and could tell when he was playing around with him and Sei, something the elder Hitachiin did often, so he didn't feel too rattled by Hikaru storming off. Grinning in amusement he offered Sei his arm, putting on a very suave façade.

"Shall we?"

She laughed, "Lead the way."

The two started to leave her room when she stopped short and bit her lip nervously.

"Wait…I can't leave Yasai here…"

Kaoru tilted his head to the side, "Mother isn't too fond of animals but I'm sure she'll allow you to bring him with us as long as he doesn't bother her while she's working."

"Oh he won't, he's very well behaved! Thank you so much Kaoru!" She gave him a quick peck on the lips and then bent down to pick up her furry little friend, carrying him carefully down the spiraling staircase and in to the marble foyer where Hikaru was waiting for them, impatiently tapping his toes.

"Took you long enough." He drawled sarcastically with a hint of a smile twitching at his lips.

Sei rolled her eyes and waved his comment off disinterestedly, ignoring the curious stare she was now receiving from Hikaru who had finally noticed that she was carrying her furry companion with her. She realized that her suitcase he had previously been carting was nowhere to be seen, _the chauffeur must have taken it to the car already. _

Stepping through the front door Sei definitely wasn't expecting the assault of chilled air that bombarded her exposed arms and face. Shivering in discontent she subconsciously hugged Yasai's tiny furry body closer to her for warmth. Above her the once wide expanse of cornflower-blue sky was being overrun by ominous dark tinted cumulonimbus clouds, promising a very nasty looking storm. A shudder ran through her body at the thought, clouds like that brought intense thunderstorms, intense thunderstorms caused power outages, power outages made things dark and Sei was terrified of the dark.

Kaoru watched Sei through worried golden eyes before stepping forward to wrap a comforting arm around her waist, pulling her close to him protectively. Their eyes locked and he silently assured her that everything would be okay.

"Don't worry Nanami-chan, our house has back-up generators." Hikaru came up beside the two.

Kaoru nodded, "Yeah, no way is the power going to go out if that's what you're worried about."

"Ugh, don't jinx it." She playfully punched them both in the shoulders with her free hand, earning bouts of laughter from both boys in return.

The two Hitachiin boys lead her to the extravagant limo waiting out front for the three of them, the chauffeur greeted them politely before opening the door for them and closing it once the three teens had taken their seats on the plush cushions inside. Yasai jumped from Sei's arms and curled up into a ball on the comfy plush area between her and Hikaru.

Absently she glanced out of the tinted window, watching the town blur past them in a medley of colors and lights mixed with the water now steadily streaming from the darkened sky. She found peace in the streaks of raindrops racing against each other to the bottom of the car window where they eventually merged together as one and flew off in to the wind. A loud crack of thunder jolted her from her musings and she silently hoped that the weather didn't get too terrible; it wasn't a very appealing way to spend her first day with the Hitachiin's.

"Don't sweat over it too much, Nanami-chan, or your hair will end up turning grey." Hikaru teased.

"Shut your face." She snapped back, equally as playful.

The rest of the ride consisted of the three friends exchanging playful banter, the thought of the darkness pushed far from Sei's immediate concerns.

The limo slowed to a halt in front of a tall 4 or 5 story traditional Japanese-styled mansion. It was a wooden beauty standing amidst a lavish garden of summer blooms and extravagant landscaping. Sei stared in awe at Hikaru and Kaoru's home, having never been there before. Wrapping around the first floor was a wooden porch, ornately hand carved designs cut in to the spindles of the guard rail while bright green vines of some sort of flowering plant hung from the overhang, dripping down onto the porch beautifully.

"Wow, this place is amazing…" Her mouth hung agape as she continued to drink in the home of her friends.

The twins shrugged, "Mother likes the style of traditional homes so she had an architect come and design this place for us."

"I would've never guessed that your mother would be into this sort of thing…she _is_ the leading name in designer fashion, I'd have guessed that you guys would be living in a more…modernized home, ya'know?" She tilted her head to the side with a grin.

Kaoru laughed, "Oh the inside makes up for the more traditional outer appearance."

Kaoru certainly wasn't lying when he told her that the inside of the mansion was far more modernized than the outside, Sei felt like she had stepped out of a time machine and landed somewhere—some time? – in the future. She had to hand it to their mother; she meant business when it came to fashion as well as interior design. Yasai leapt from her arms and obediently stood beside his owner, surveying his surroundings as well.

"Wow, you're home is beautiful." Sei whirled around to face the two ginger-haired twins, fingers tightly clasped together behind her back as she leaned forward with a bright smile.

"Why thank you, took me ages to get everything just the way I liked it." A smooth, yet commanding voice drifted over the small group.

Hikaru and Kaoru waved, smiling, "Hey, mom."

Sei faltered, caught off guard by the sudden appearance of their mother. She turned around to see a fairly tall, slim woman with short stylishly spiked reddish-orange hair (a shade similar to the twins except a bit redder) resting her delicate hand against the polished railing of the twisting staircase that lead to the other floors of the home.

"You must be Nanami, I'm Hitachiin Yuzuha." She acknowledged warmly, "I must say, the boys' ramblings about you did you no justice, you're beautiful! I believe you'd look fantastic in my new summer wear, hmm, yes, yes, it's settled! Come with me!"

Before Sei knew what was going on the boys had each latched on to either side of her and were dragging her down the hall after their mother whose eyes had glazed over in determined inspiration. The room she had been brought to seemed to be chaotically organized, racks of freshly sewn summer dresses and blouses took up much of the floor space, while needles and scraps of fabric littered the desks.

"Er…what's going on?" She asked hesitantly, warily watching the excited older woman as she fished through several racks of clothing pushed up against the wall closest to where she and the boys were standing. Hikaru and Kaoru grinned, equally as eager as their mother was at the prospect of seeing her dressed in the latest Hitachiin fashion.

"Here we are!" The older woman placed a hand on her hip triumphantly while holding up a strapless dark green pleated summer dress with a white ribbon cinching the waist, thrusting it in to the burgundy haired teenager's arms and guiding her towards the small curtained off cubicle to the back of the room.

Not wanting to disappoint, Sei quickly discarded her faded blue skinny jeans and tossed them in to the corner, followed by her simple black t-shirt before donning the beautiful dress that she had been given. Turning around to face the mirror against the wall she turned a dark shade of scarlet. It was _way_ too short, it covered the essentials but not much after that.

"Well, how's it look, dear?" The fashionista asked kindly from the other side of the curtain.

Sei blushed, biting her lip, "It's a bit short…"

"What's the problem with that?" She heard Kaoru chuckle, followed by the sound of something whizzing through the air and making contact with something else.

That _something else_ elicited a painful cry of "_Ouch_!"

"Now that that's taken care of," Yuzuha mumbled before cheerily trying to coax Sei out, "let's see how it looks and if any changes need to be made?"

Grudgingly the emerald eyed girl peaked around the curtain nervously, shoving the heavy material aside and shuffling forward with her head down. Her tiny hands fumbled with the hem of the dress, subconsciously trying to will it to grow a few more inches to make her more at ease.

Hikaru's cheeks tinted pink and he quickly turned away, focusing his gaze on his brother who was rubbing at the newly formed bump on his head and pulling himself up off of the floor. When Kaoru's eyes met with Sei he felt his lips twitch in to a wide, adoring grin.

"You look fantastic, Nanami."

His mother nodded in agreement, "You are beautiful, dear. However, this dress doesn't hug you the way it should, it's a little too loose in the waist and hip area. Let's try another outfit, shall we?"

Sei couldn't say 'no' to the woman, she'd feel terribly guilty, but at the same time she wasn't really the type of girl who enjoyed the whole 'dress up' game. As a child, while Kaniya was playing dress up with grown-up clothing and makeup, Sei was playing with her toy dinosaurs and making mud-pies after it rained.

She was rushed back towards the curtained dressing room once more with a pile of top of the line Hitachiin clothing in her arms. Daring to glance over her shoulder at the boys she noticed, much to her chagrin, that they seemed to be enjoying themselves. With a sigh she pushed past the thick hanging curtain, quickly changing out of the too-short green summer dress and surveying the rest of the clothing that she had been handed.

A light frown pulled at the corners of her lips, all these outfits looked like they'd be _way_ too small for her, what did their mother think Sei was? A size 0?

The next outfit consisted of a stylish light blue ruffled skirt that came roughly an inch above her knees and a fancy white short sleeved silk-like blouse that had intricate blue stitching along the sides that matched the skirt. She admitted that it was a cute outfit, and loads longer (not by much, though) than the last one, which she was grateful for.

Stepping out in front of the scrutinizing eyes of the fashionista for the second time did nothing to ease her nerves. What if they thought she looked terrible in everything and kicked her out for shaming the Hitachiin clothing line with her scrawny, pale self?

"Better, " The older woman nodded her head, circling around Sei like a predator about to pounce on its prey, "the blouse is a little too tight around the middle, but that particular article runs small."

Hikaru snickered, "Nanami-chan looks absolutely thrilled to be wearing our outfits."

Sei did a double take, eyes wide, "_Your_ outfits?"

The elder of the Hitachiin brothers grinned proudly, "Yup, the outfits you've been trying on were designed by me and Kaoru."

"No wonder they're too small, perverts." She mumbled lowly to herself.

"What was that?" Kaoru chimed from beside her, casting her a mischievous smirk.

Rolling her eyes at him playfully she responded with a 'don't worry about it' and went back to the dressing room to try on the last dress.

The last dress, Sei had to admit, was beautiful to put it simply. It was a light green that gradually became darker as it neared the bottom with black spaghetti-straps holding it up. The material felt almost silky against her skin and had a pattern of flowers and vines that faded in to the background of the dress. The bust came down in a 'v' neck sort of style, outlined in black ribbon with a small black bow tying it off near the cleavage ("This dress actually makes it look like I have boobs!"). She caught herself twirling in front of the mirror, admiring how the bottom of the dress lifted up just slightly and flew around her legs.

Sei stepped out from behind the curtain for the last time and was immediately flocked to by all three Hitachiins, circling around her and commenting in 'fashion lingo' that she didn't even begin to understand. After a few minutes the twins and their mother took a step back after seeing that Sei was beginning to feel uneasy.

"You boys did a wonderful job, I'm very proud of you." Yuzuha smiled, her eyes lighting up in approval.

Hikaru and Kaoru both blushed a faint pink at the compliment from their mother, equally if not more proud of their creation.

"We're glad that that dress looks good on you—" Hikaru started.

Kaoru stepped in, "—because we made it specially for you, Nanami-chan."

"I…really?" She tilted her head to the side, letting her bangs fall to the side thusly exposing her left eye, which was usually covered by her long hanging side bangs. Kaoru was a bit surprised, he was so used to only getting to see half of her face, he had to admit…he enjoyed seeing her entire face. He decided that he was going to convince her to maybe cut her bangs a bit shorter, at least enough so that he could stare in to both of her eyes.

He took her hands loosely in his and brought his face close to hers, placing a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. Hikaru rolled his eyes and looked away, busying himself with a stray piece of fabric that had been draped over the back of a chair. Hitachiin Yuzuha smiled in adoration at her son and how happy he was with Nanami-Sei.

"Mm, yup. Me and Hikaru worked on that one with you in mind, we knew these particular shades of green would match perfectly with your eyes and we figured that we could help you out around the chest-area and—ouch! What was that for?" Kaoru rubbed at his now sore shoulder from where Sei had punched him.

"For being a creeper."

"How was I a creeper?" He inquired, a crooked grin twitching at the corners of his lips when she remained silent, not wanting to dignify his question with an answer.

Sei brought the palm of her hand up to her mouth to stifle a yawn before rubbing tiredly at her eyes.

"Alright, I suppose that's enough excitement for one day," Yuzuha chuckled, "how about you boys get Nanami all situated upstairs in her room?"

Hikaru and Kaoru directed a very tired Sei out of the fashion room, guiding her up the stairs to the room where she'd be staying for the time she spent with them. Halfway up the stairs she perked up, startling the two boys beside her.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked.

"I forgot to take off your dress." She frowned, taking the material in her hands.

Kaoru laughed, "That all? Don't worry about it, it's yours anyway."

"Yeah, just take it off when you get to the room, think of it as a…summer gift." Hikaru grinned.

"Thanks guys," She breathed, "for everything."


	4. Chapter 4

Bah. This took FOREVER! I'd end up adding a paragraph here and there every other day or so but I'd never actually sit down to finish it until tonight.

It's summer now, I finished my first year of college (*yay*) and I'll *hopefully* be able to write more this summer. In a few weeks I'm going to South Carolina to visit my friends and family, just a heads up xP

I'm trying to decide if I should pair Hikaru up with someone or not, any suggestions?

Oh, and to dispel any confusion, Kaniya was already promised to be in the fashion show so she flew back to Japan that night for it and then flew back out to their vacation home. And Spinning Track Records is a record company that I made up, obviously, the name isn't very original but I couldn't think of anything else! xD

OH! Shameless plug but…my friend recently made this wicked past meets present Harry Potter roleplay site if anyone's interested! I think you should definitely check it out, I play a couple characters on there and would be up for rping with anyone :D! Just say 'Jade' referred you lol.  
Here's the URL;

thatwasthenau. proboards. Com

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x  
**Here I Stand**  
_Chapter Four_

Sei bit her lip, staring at her reflection in the mirror while straightening her bowtie. She was wearing a custom tailored dark navy blue suit with a white collared undershirt and a dark green bowtie that went well with her eyes (or at least that's what Kaoru and Hikaru had told her). She glanced over at Haruhi who was wearing a similar outfit; however her suit was dark grey with a light blue tie.

"This thing shouldn't last too long, right? I'm not really in to the whole 'fashion show' thing…" The burgundy haired Host bit her lip, turning towards her brunette friend who was fidgeting with her cufflinks.

"I don't see why it would; I think it's supposed to last an hour and a half at most." Haruhi muttered, pulling on her sleeves until they were even with each other, "If it goes over then I'm just leaving, I have shopping to do tonight."

The taller girl grinned in amusement, "Haruhi, you _always_ have shopping to do!"

"Well, there's always cooking to do, you can't expect my father to cook his own meals." She shot back, "That'd be a disaster in itself."

Sei stared at her blankly for a moment before bursting out in to laughter, "I don't doubt that, men really are hopeless when it comes to things like that."

A light knock came at the door of the changing room, Haruhi glanced over her shoulder and called out, "Yeah?"

"It's Kaniya, you two have like…two minutes until we start and you need to be out here for the opening ceremonies, unless you want Tamaki to come in and get you." The blonde model giggled from the other side of the door before quickly scurrying off to get herself ready.

The burgundy haired host groaned, "Only an hour and a half at most, you said?"

Haruhi shared her look of discontent, "Pretty sure, now let's get going before he really _does_ come up here."

The two friends exchanged a look before shuddering. The two of them glanced at their reflections one last time in the mirror before turning around and exiting through the double doors to head down to Ouran's Grand Ballroom where the Host Club's Fashion Show would be held.

**x.x.x.x.x.x**

It was the last day of the school year, the day after the fashion show (which had been a complete success according to Kyouya), and half the student population of Ouran was mulling about the courtyard speaking to friends and talking about their summer plans. Sei was sitting by the fountain with the Hitachiins and several girls from their grade that were regular customers of hers and the twins.

"I don't think I ever told you but…I'm glad you grew your hair out a little bit Sei-kun, it looks great!" The brunette, Kaiya, grinned as she glanced up at the emerald eyed Host from her own reflection in the crystalline fountain waters.

"Aw, thank you Kaiya-hime!" Sei smiled charmingly.

Kaoru chuckled from beside her, playing with a loose strand of her hair between his slender fingers, "I quite agree, Nanami-chan looks rather stunning with longer hair."

She absently brought a hand up to run through her silky burgundy hair, it was true, it had gotten a bit longer over the past few months, now it came down several inches past her ears in choppy layers. Since it was longer than before she couldn't spike it in the back with gel anymore, so she just left it the way it was on most days.

"Oi, Kaoru, have you told Nanami-chan yet?" Hikaru grinned from her other side.

Sei tilted her head to the side in confusion, glancing up at Kaoru, "Tell me what?"

The girls on either side of the trio perked up as well, eager to hear whatever it was that the twins had to tell Tsukyoshii Sei.

Kaoru felt his lips tug at the corners when he glanced down at his fiancée, how crazy was that? _His_ **fiancée**! He still felt his stomach churn with fluttering butterflies every time he thought about it, about _her_. His golden eyes locked with her bright emeralds, "Our mother came to us last night—"

"—to tell us that we're going to be the stylists to—"

"—that upcoming pop-star—"

"—Selena Avenforth!" They both finished in unison.

Two of the girls sitting with them squealed, while Kaiya frowned, pulling away from the small group slightly at the mention of the newly famous pop-singer.

"Who's that?" Sei tilted her head to the side, not really in to keeping up with the American mainstream.

Miwako smiled giddily, "She's the latest out of America! Haven't you heard her hit single _'Light up the Dance Floor'_? Selena's amazing!"

Kaiya scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "Sorry Sei-kun, my ride's here. Have a nice vacation everyone."

The brunette abruptly stood up, briskly walking off to the limo that had just pulled up in front of the school gates. The remainder of the group stared after her in confusion, having noticed her change in demeanor as soon as the American pop singer was mentioned. Sei exchanged a glance with the Hitachiins, shrugging her shoulders to their unasked question.

"Congrats guys, I know how much this can really help you get your start in the fashion business." Sei smiled, her bright eyes lighting up before lowering, "I'll miss you."

The ginger haired boys shared identical grins, "You won't have time to miss us, silly!"

"Why's that?"

"Because you're coming with us, of course!" Hikaru laughed, slinging an arm across her shoulders.

Kaoru nuzzled her cheek, eliciting squeals from several of the girls, "You didn't really think we'd leave you behind, now did you?"

She rolled her eyes at their playfulness, "I...guess not."

"Good! Your bags are already packed, nothing but the best for our Nanami-chan! Brand new clothing straight from mother's new clothing line; you'll look amazing in it!" Hikaru exclaimed excitedly while the few girls left giggled.

The burgundy haired girl cocked a suspicious eyebrow at him, "You packed my bags already? Wait…when do we leave again?"

The younger of the Hitachiins smiled sweetly, "Tomorrow morning, so rest up tonight, love."

"Yeah, the plane ride takes for_ever_!" Hikaru complained, throwing his arms up in to the air dramatically.

"What? Nana-chan won't be here during vacation?" Hunny pouted, popping out of nowhere and startling the three Hosts by the fountain. He hugged Usa-chan close to his chest while staring up at Sei with big watery doe-eyes.

"I guess not, I didn't even know we _had_ summer plans." She shrugged.

"Well, mother kind of sprung it upon us at the last minute, and who are we to decline such an offer?"

"Our designs are always clumped together with mother's genius…this is our chance to separate from her and her company and start a name for ourselves." Kaoru explained, his lips tugging at the corners.

"In a way mother's testing us, to see how we handle the responsibility and the stress." Hikaru added.

Kaoru jumped in, "And if we fail then we'll know that we're not ready just yet."

The tears in the blonde senior's eyes cleared and he beamed brightly at the two golden eyed twins, "Hika-chan and Kao-chan are going to do great! I just know it!"

The Hitachiins laughed at the tiny senior standing in front of them before their eyes landed on the sleek black stretch limo pulling up to the gates with the silver "HC" insignia on the side. The letters, of course, stood for the _Hitachiin Corporation_ and was, in fact, 15 minutes late.

Kaoru stood up, holding out a hand to the emerald eyed girl beside him to help her up, which she gratefully accepted. Hunny, seeming to realize that this was the last time he'd see his three friends for a while bit his lip, latching himself onto Sei's pant-leg and burying his face in to the fabric of her trousers.

"I'm going to miss you!" He wailed.

Hikaru sighed impatiently, exchanging a look with his brother who merely shrugged and turned to his girl who was busy trying to consol the upset senior (well…he was soon to graduate so he wouldn't be a senior for long!). The girls around them began rubbing Hunny's back, whispering comforting words of encouragement to him.

"Don't worry Hunny-senpai, as soon as we get back I promise I'll come see you and I'll even bring you a giant chocolate cake in consolation for my absence, sound good?" Sei smiled when the blonde loosened his grasp around her pant-leg and glanced up at her with a cheerful nod.

"Yay, cake!" He cheered, "I can't wait till you come back, Nana-chan! Have a good trip."

Sei gave the tiny senior a quick hug before straightening up and scanning over the faces in the courtyard, crestfallen when she noted that the rest of the host club had already left. _I'm not going to get to say goodbye to the others…_

**x.x.x.x.x.x**

The plane ride wasn't so bad, at least not to Sei and Yasai who both napped half of the ride while Hikaru and Kaoru listened to their iPods or played video games out of boredom. At one point Sei had woken up from her sleep to find both boys wrestling in the wide isle between the couches (instead of regular plane seats they had plush couches pushed up against each side of the plane). Yasai yawned, stretching his paws out in front of him, curling his toes and shaking the sleep off of himself.

"Um, what're you guys doing?" Sei tilted her head to the side, stifling a yawn with the palm of her hand while staring bleary eyed at the two boys who paused mid-headlock.

"Kaoru seems to think that he won…when it's quite obvious that _I _was the one who did." Hikaru grunted, holding on to his brother tightly.

"Hikaru's got it all wrong, the game clearly declared _me_ as the winner!"

The burgundy haired girl cocked an eyebrow, "What game were you playing?"

"Pokémon Platinum." They both answered in unison and it was then that her eyes landed on the two Nintendo DS' discarded to the side, still playing victory music from the won poké-battle. She crawled over to the other side of the plane and picked up the two handheld gaming systems, it declared the match a tie.

"Then just play again, best 2 out of 3, yeah?" She tried to mediate.

"This is the 11th time we've played! It keeps ending in a tie." They both groaned, untangling themselves and scooting over to sit next to Sei.

She scanned through the party list and noticed something that the two boys had in common. Both of their leading Pokémon were named after her. They were both level 60 Luxray (**AN: haha, one of my favorite Pokémon!**).

"Why'd you name them after me…they're both male." Sei shot them a confused glance.

The Hitachiin brothers shrugged, "We figured that the name fit."

"How the hell does that work?"

"Kaoru, your fiancée raised her voice to me!" Hikaru whined obnoxiously, putting on an act and sniffling in to his younger brother's shoulder. Kaoru patted his brother's back sympathetically, muttering soothing words in to his ear.

"Look what you did Nanami-chan! Now Hikaru's crying…"

She rolled her eyes at them, "You can't get away with doing that anymore, I know that trick."

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged identical looks of surprise, their lips slowly twitching in to a grin.

"Fine, fine, you win Nanami-chan." Hikaru straightened up and waved his hands around dismissively.

She laughed before wandering back over to the other side of the plane, positioning herself against the back of the couch and turning in her seat to stare out of the window at the cloud-wisped sky outside. They were flying over the United States, having come in from the west and were flying towards New York in the east. She admired the vast expanse of land beneath her, a country far larger than the one that she called home, it was exciting. She didn't get out of Japan very often aside from the trips she and her brother sometimes made to England to visit their mother, or if they traveled with her to visit one of her newest zoos.

"How long until we get there?" She asked curiously, angling her head so that she was staring over her shoulder at the two boys who had gone back to playing their games.

"Mm, I'd say another hour or so at best, why? Getting impatient?" Kaoru smirked.

She huffed, "Of course not, I was just wondering how much longer I'd have to share such an enclosed space with the two of you."

"Well you better get used to it, love, because for the next 2 months you're going to be stuck with us." Hikaru shot back, playfully sticking his tongue out at her.

"Oh joy." Sei rolled her eyes.

The next hour passed quickly with the three of them exchanging playful banter back and forth, passing the time until they reached a private airport in New York state. Sei hugged Yasai to her chest and stared in awe at the area surrounding the small airport, it was beautiful! She had never been to the United States before; she hoped that her English was good enough so that she didn't make any mistakes while conversing with the locals. How embarrassing would that be?

"Welcome to America, Nanami-chan!" Hikaru and Kaoru chimed excitedly, both of them slinging an arm across her shoulders.

"Wow…the air isn't as polluted as I would have imagined! I can actually breathe!" She exclaimed, causing the two boys to exchange looks and burst into laughter.

"You shouldn't believe all the bad rep this country gets; it's really not all _that_ bad." Hikaru smiled, taking in a big breath, his eyes landing on the limo waiting for them out front of the airport, "C'mon guys, we need to have our things dropped off at our hotel before going to meet our new charge."

Sei watched the two boys skip in their excitement, they were so happy to be there, to be doing what they loved to do. They were going to make a name for themselves here, she decided that she didn't want to get in the way of their work and would therefore let them do what they needed to get done each day without complaint. This meant the world to them; she just wanted to see Hikaru and Kaoru happy.

She glanced up to see that both boys had stopped and were staring at her, Hikaru impatiently and Kaoru worriedly.

"You coming?" Kaoru tilted his head to the side.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." She smiled brightly, adjusting her hold on Yasai and trailing after the twins who made a beeline for the limo while the driver hefted their suitcases in to the trunk. She noticed the excited, yet anxious, twitch of Kaoru's left foot against the floorboard of the limo. Her eyes shifted to his brother who was tapping his fingers impatiently against the window and she bit her tongue to keep herself from giggling. They were nervous.

It was cute, really. She'd never really seen either of them act like this before, it was a refreshing change to know that they got worried in unfamiliar situations like the rest of the world did.

"What's got you so happy over there?" Hikaru quirked an eyebrow, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Nothing." She smirked, agitating the elder Hitachiin with the fact that she wasn't telling him something. Kaoru glanced back and forth between the two, amusement dancing in his golden eyes.

Kaoru wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling the burgundy haired girl closer to him, "We told the driver to just take us to the studio first so we can meet Selena, then we'll have the rest of the night to go out on the town and do whatever."

"Sounds like fun, I can't wait." She beamed.

Despite New York traffic they arrived at the music studio in no time. Standing out front of the 10-story building made primarily of glass, giving off a modern-esque look to it, Sei leaned back, attempting to see the top of the building. She had left Yasai in the limo, knowing full well that animals weren't welcomed in the fancy record company. She felt and arm snake around her waist and she glanced back to see the comforting smile of her fiancé.

"You ready?" He brought his face down to her level, resting his forehead against hers lovingly.

The burgundy haired teen reached up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, "Yup, let's meet this pop star."

Hikaru rolled his eyes at the sickening display, pushing forward and through the tall glass doors of the recording studio. He wasn't sure where he needed to be and figured that someone should have been there awaiting their arrival to guide them in the right direction. He was disappointed by the realization that no one was standing by the door to welcome them and show them to where they were supposed to meet Selena.

"Oh! You must be the Hitachiins! I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner, I had other matters to attend to, but I'm here now!" Came an apologetic voice.

The three of them glanced up in surprise as a young girl (maybe only a few years older than themselves) came sprinting towards them out of breath, her cheeks stained a bright pink from the overexertion. She was a tiny thing, probably closer to Hunny-senpai's height minus his child-like appearance. She had long wavy chestnut colored hair that cascaded down her back in ringlets and bright aquamarine almond shaped eyes.

Kaoru nodded, giving the new arrival the once over, noticing that she had tried to incorporate every possible color in her outfit, she must've really liked rainbows. Her clothing seemed to reflect her hyperactive personality.

"That's great! I'm glad I found you guys." She grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet, "I'm Kamaria Silvera, but call me Mari! And I've been assigned as your personal assistant while you're here in the states working for Selena. So if you need anything, coffee, food, limo, reservations, or whatever—just call on me, kay?"

Her smile was infectious, in a matter of seconds she had the three Japanese students smiling from ear to ear by her overt friendliness.

"Alright, Mari, I'm Kaoru and this is my brother, Hikaru, and my fiancée Nanami—"

"—call me Sei." The burgundy haired girl interjected with a wave and a slight Japanese accent.

Mari's bright eyes widened in surprise, "Wow~! Congrats you two, I would've never guessed that you were engaged, you guys are like…my age!"

Sei felt her cheeks heat up, tinting a light shade of pink at the mention of her's and Kaoru's engagement. It was still very new to her and strange to think about, she had just turned 16 and she was engaged! Though of course the wedding wouldn't be until they were older, that was the agreement.

"Well, c'mon c'mon! Follow me and I'll take you up to meet Selena Avenforth!" The brunette twirled on her heel, her ringlets fanning around her in the process as she waved them on, motioning for the trio to follow her.

Mari led them to a glassed in elevator, pushing the button for the highest floor of the building before leaning back and swaying her hips to the rhythm of the song playing through the speakers. Sei didn't recognize the song, but that was no surprise as it was an American pop song and she wasn't too big on English music. The systematic _dings_ of the elevator bell were drowned out by the bubble-gum pop that was spewing from the speakers, Sei didn't even understand some of the words being said, but that was mostly due to the fact that her English wasn't _that_ great. Sure, she could speak it well enough to get by, but from what she had seen so far Americans spoke way too quickly for her to be able to pick out each word they were using. The elevator stopped with a final _bing_ and the doors opened to reveal a large penthouse-like room, glass on all sides, with the most amazing skyline view of New York City. In the far end of the room situated in front of the windows was a glossy desk made of polished oak, the kind that only the head-executive or the CEO would be caught sitting behind. In the center of the room was a very soft looking stylish shag rug with two comfortable looking couches facing each other from either side of the carpet. All in all, the room exuded a very warm and friendly atmosphere despite it being a place for business.

"Oh you must be Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, yes?" A tall man with short salt and peppered hair wearing a very expensive looking business suit walked forward, gesturing to Kaoru and Hikaru.

"Actually, I'm Kaoru—"

"—and I'm Hikaru" They corrected him.

"Oh, sorry boys." He smiled apologetically before his eyes landed on Sei, "Oh? And who is this young lady?"

Sei snapped to attention after having been previously staring out of one of the windows at the cityscape outside in awe, her eyes shifted to Kaoru's and the corners of his lips quirked in an amused smile. She opened her mouth to introduce herself and then remembered that westerners did a funny thing when they introduced themselves, what was it that they did? Oh, right! They said their family name last.

"I'm Nanami-Sei Tsukyoshii, it's a pleasure to meet you-ah—"She realized that she had no idea who this man was, whether he had forgotten to introduce himself to the teens or if she hadn't been paying attention when he had spoken his name she wasn't sure. She looked to the twins for a little help, but they seemed just as stumped to his identity as she was.

"The pleasure's all mine!" He seemed taken with her and her polite disposition, "Oh, I'm sorry, how incredibly rude of me! I'm Michael Stratun, I'm the producer and creator of Spinning Track Records." He held his arms out as if to gesture that all that was around them and in the entire building belonged to him and was only there through his hard work.

The elevator behind them _bing'd_, indicating that someone was getting off on their floor. The doors slide open and out stepped a girl of average height, with long wavy golden blonde locks of hair that cascaded over her left shoulder. Her eyes were a light hazel and full of excitement, they landed on the twins.

Michael Stratun grinned, "Ah, Miss Avenforth, dear, these are your new stylists Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin."

She plastered on the warmest smile she could muster, her eyes roaming over both boys appreciatively before sending a withering look in Sei's direction, which went unnoticed by the boys.

"And, uh, who's she?" Selena jerked a thumb in Sei's direction, her eyes narrowing somewhat territorially.

Kaoru grinned in adoration, completely oblivious to the predatory glances he and his brother were receiving from their blonde charge, "This is Sei, my fiancée!"

Selena frowned momentarily, completely taken aback by that bit of information. Weren't they too young to get married? Wiping the annoyed grimace off of her face, she replaced it with a fake enthusiastic smile, congratulating them on their engagement. The four (Hikaru, Kaoru, Selena, and Mr. Stratun) began to discuss upcoming publicity events to help get Selena's name out there, leaving Sei to wander around the office and stare out of the floor length windows at the cityscape outside. She glanced over her shoulder, noting how excited Hikaru and Kaoru were as that chatted away with the CEO of Spinning Track Records and she couldn't help but to smile too. She was so happy for the both of them.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Sei turned back around, tilting her head to the side so see Mari standing beside her with a wistful smile turning up the corners of her lips.

"Yeah it is."

"You know, if ever you're feeling bored and the boys are too busy doing stylist stuff for Selena you can call on me too. Me and Jade can take you out on the city; show you the sights and all."

Sei bit her lip, Mari seemed so sincere with her offer, but she was sure that the boys wouldn't get _so_ caught up with their work that they'd leave her to her own devices like that.

"Who's Jade?"

Mari's eyes lit up, "Oh! I'm sorry, she's Selena's step-sister, but between you and me," she got closer so that she could whisper the next part to Sei, "she's a lot nicer and way cooler, but you didn't hear that from me, not-uh!" She took a step back and made a motion with her fingers across her lips in a 'my lips are sealed' sort of gesture.

Sei quirked an eyebrow, Mari certainly was an odd character, but it was a refreshing sort of oddness.


	5. Chapter 5

Holy crap, I've been working on this chapter for the past few weeks and I'm finally finished [at 2:30am on a school night too! Lol] I feel like the worst person ever for taking an entire year to update this and I'll be surprised if anyone still remembers this story D:! But, I hope this extra long chapter helps to make up for the fact that it took me so long? Truth be told I had kind of grown out of the Ouran fandom…and it wasn't until I watched the live action Ouran series that I got back into the series and was determined to finish this story—I couldn't just leave you guys hanging forever!

So here I am, it really shouldn't take me as long as it did previously to update again—but I can't promise that I'll be able to update weekly or anything like that [in addition to going to school I work nearly ever single night of the week as well so I'm kept pretty busy usually] but I'll try my hardest to write a few paragraphs a day so that it doesn't take me forever to get things going again!

I just read a bunch of the reviews that you guys left me and honestly? I can't believe how incredibly fabulous you all are! It's your support that made me want to continue this story and actually finish it [and stop leaving you guys hanging in suspense xD!] So thank you so much!

Also! If ya'll have tumblr [yes, I've fallen into the craze, don't kill me!] then feel free to add/follow me and even send me messages telling me to get my ass in gear and update! Or ask me questions about the story [or anything in general] the url to my tumblr is in my profile it ya'll are interested xD! Anyway, I've rambled enough. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x  
**Here I Stand**  
_Chapter Five_

Cuddled next to each other on the navy plush couch located against the center cream painted wall of the penthouse suite's living room were Sei and Kaoru, the former's eyes fixated on the television unblinking as the song "Hakuna Matata" blasted through the speakers. Hikaru had decided to wander around the hotel to give his brother and Sei a little alone time together and hadn't come back yet so the two had decided to put in a movie for the time being. Surprisingly Sei had chosen a Disney movie, The Lion King to be more exact, her ginger-haired fiancé had never known of her love for Disney which soon became apparent once the DVD had been popped in and she had begun to quote the movie verbatim. It was borderline obsessive but he found it cute.

"I take it you've seen this movie quite a few times then?" Kaoru chuckled, staring down at her teasingly.

Sei, from her position wrapped securely in his arms glanced up briefly to stick out her tongue, "It's pretty much my favorite movie ever! Sai and I grew up watching the classic Disney movies; we practically worship Walt Disney and his genius."

He laughed at her enthusiasm towards the animated movie and gently caressed her arm with his index finger, turning his attention back to the movie once seeing that she had done the same. "Me and Hikaru never really watched these sort of movies, they always seemed…" He paused, hoping that what he was about to say next wouldn't offend her after she had just admitted to loving Disney movies so much,"…a bit childish for our liking."

The red-haired 16 year old bit her lip and snorted on her giggles, "But you two and the most childish boys I know! In the best sense possible, what I meant is that you two enjoy living and are…uh…children at heart?" She blinked and sheepishly grinned up at him.

His face remained blank and void of any emotion for a few moments before a wicked smirk twisted the corners of his lips, sending delightful shivers down her spine (she found his mischievous side absolutely adorable!). Kaoru leaned forward, his lips lightly ghosting over hers and whispered, "So I'm childish, huh? Well, let's see how childish I can be then, hm?"

He all but tackled her against the couch cushions, straddling her waist and effectively pinning her to the plush beneath her, letting his hands rove over her most ticklish areas, namely her sides and the underside of her knees. Sei wasn't strong enough to throw him off, weakened by her uncontrollable laughter and the aching in her sides from not only his fingers digging in to them but also her giggles.

"K-Kaoru! S-s-stop! I-I was k-k-kidding!" She stuttered through her giggles, arching her back beneath him and madly thrashing her head from side to side. (**A/N**: I act crazy like that too when I'm tickled xD!)

The golden-eyed boy chuckled, amused by her helplessness in this situation.

"Hm, the mature Kaoru would stop but this is the childish Kaoru you're talking to and he doesn't seem to want to stop, he's having too much fun." He continued to assault her ticklish areas for a few more minutes before stopping to let her catch her breath.

She coughed, gasping for the air that had been pushed out of her lungs by her nonstop giggles before glaring up at Kaoru and scooting towards the far end of the couch, away from him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed torturing me, you sicko."

He smirked, scooting closer to her and plastering on a suave smile, "I wouldn't call it _torture_, you loved it, you know you did."

Sei scoffed, "Because my cries of anguish obviously equal happiness."

"You're such a drama queen." He laughed.

The door to the hotel room burst open and Hikaru rushed in excitedly, "Hey guys I just—oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" He stopped mid-step and tilted his head to the side in a cute manor while scrunching up his nose in disgust.

Sei shook her head and pushed herself off of the couch, leaving a dejected Kaoru behind, "Nope. Your brother was being a buttmunch."

Hikaru chuckled and stepped further inside, closing the door behind him, "Well then let me make up for my brother being a—did you call him a buttmunch?—by taking us to the Disney Store! While I was lounging in the lobby this girl started talking to me and mentioned that there was a giant store that sold nothing but Disney merchandise in downtown Manhattan."

Sei's eyes lit up in excitement, flinging her arms around Hikaru's neck without giving the poor boy a warning, "Yes, yes, let's go!"

The twins chuckled at her over enthusiasm, it was hard to believe that just a few short months ago Sei had trouble fully expressing herself around them—hiding behind her sarcasm and almost-indifferent attitude. Yet here she was, on the verge of wetting herself from the excitement that accompanied the discovery of a store dedicated entirely to the genius of Walt Disney and his masterpieces.

Giddy with impatience, Sei latched onto both boys and yanked them out of the door, arm in arm, "What're we waiting for? Let's get a move on, yeah?"

"How does it feel to be dating someone who's mentally regressed back to the age of 6?" Hikaru teasingly asked his twin, who rolled his eyes in a playful manner as they both let their tiny friend drag them into the elevator, punching in the button for the lobby.

"Oi, Nanami-chan, don't we need to call for a ride first?" The elder twin laughed.

She let go of them both and placed a hand on her hip while waving her free hand dismissively at his comment, "Don't be silly! We'll walk; it's only a few blocks over, right?"

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged glances before shrugging and answering in unison, "I guess..."

She ignored their reluctance to venture out into the city without a chauffeur and pulled them out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened, _dinging_ to announce their arrival in the lobby on the ground floor.

"Alright! Now…where did the person say it was?"

Hikaru shrugged his shoulders, "No idea, but we can quickly find out—wait here." He instructed the two, shuffling towards the front desk and engaging the young receptionist in a conversation. She easily fell into his charm, offering him a flirtatious smile and writing down directions that would take them from their current position all the way over to the Disney store. He returned to them shortly with the written directions in hand.

"Oi, what're those numbers? Is that the phone number to the Disney Store?" Kaoru asked suspiciously, although he already had an idea which was proven correct when his brother's cheeks flared bright red. Hikaru indignantly turned away from his twin's teasing smirk, only to come face to face with Sei—who's expression mirrored that of his brother's.

"Shut up—I thought we had somewhere to go? Let's just leave already." They could tell that he was uncomfortable by the subject so they let it drop for the time being, though mentally storing away the information to use against him later on.

"Haha, right, sorry." Kaoru laughed, peering over his brother's shoulder to read the neatly scribbled wording on the slip of paper, "Shouldn't be too hard to find, yeah…?" Though in truth he was a tad worried, there were so many people dashing around outside that he was a little wary about stepping out into the fray. However, he didn't want to disappoint Sei, Kaoru knew that she wanted nothing more than to see the Disney Store and this might have been their only day to visit it since he and his brother would be incredibly busy in the weeks to come.

"It shouldn't be…" Hikaru mumbled, re-reading the handwritten directions and squinting at the street signs, trying to decipher which direction they should head first. He and Kaoru had never really had to deal with following directions since they relied on their drivers to take them wherever they needed to go but they were pretty positive that they could navigate the streets of New York City.

Sei bit her lip, her eyes darting around the city-scape excitedly before the corners of her lips tugged into a frown—almost as soon as they had stepped outside she'd nearly been mowed down by pedestrians pushing their way through the crowd to get to wherever it was that they were headed. She was amazed by how incredibly _busy_ everyone here seemed, as if they were all running late for a very important business meeting. Though, she imagined, that this scene wasn't too far off from what the streets of Tokyo looked like during the business week. Out of instinct she reached out with both hands, entwining her fingers with Kaoru and Hikaru's, deciding that it'd be a good idea to stay close to the two boys. She didn't want to risk getting separated from them, that definitely wouldn't have been good.

"_Ano_…it's _this_ way. _I think_." Hikaru seemed rather uncertain about his decision, but nonetheless he pulled his brother and Sei off in the direction that he had indicated. He had no problem with reading what had been written on the sheet of paper, it was just when it came to translating it to the city around him and figuring out how to navigate the streets that really confused him. Where the hell was 45th street and 7th avenue?

"Maybe we should just ask someone to point us in the right direction?" Sei suggested, pulling Kaoru closer to her and staring up at Hikaru.

The elder Hitachiin twin glanced her way for a moment before scoffing, "You doubt my navigational skills?"

She snorted, "As a matter of fact, I do."

Kaoru rolled his eyes, "Alright you two, can we wait until we find the store to argue?"

The two in question sighed simultaneously, waving off Kaoru's comment dismissively with a, "Yeah, yeah."

The streets were noisy and the three teens almost had to yell to each other to ensure that what they had to say was heard by their companions. Steam from the underground sewer and tunnel systems seeped out of potholes in the street, food vendors were yelling at everyone passing by, advertising their disgustingly unhealthy and greasy street-foods, and people all around them were talking into their cell phones and blue-tooth headsets, hardly even paying any attention to what was happening around them. It was a lot to take in, even for the three wealthy teens who should have been used to seeing the business side of the world, but it was still a little overwhelming.

"I guess it's a good thing that you both don't have to work today, so in case we get lost we'll have the entire day to find our way around the city." Sei mused, her eyes scanning over the street and building signs, occasionally she'd scrunch up her nose or furrow her brows in contemplation when she couldn't figure out a certain word. Her English was good but it wasn't _amazing_, she still had problems with reading it sometimes and _especially_ when people spoke English so _quickly_, which made it hard to follow along with at times.

Kaoru nodded in agreement, he and his brother had been given a few days off so that they could get acclimated to the city and get some new design sketches drawn up. While he was trying to help his brother navigate through the city, he noticed that every few minutes his gaze would stray back to Sei who would be staring ahead in determination, biting her lip in confusion, of furrowing her brows in contemplation. He found these small actions to be highly adorable and couldn't help _but_ to watch her from the corner of his eye every now and then as they weaved their way through the crowded sidewalks of New York City.

"Hikaru are you sure we're even going the right way? For all we know it could be _behind_ us somewhere." The younger of the two boys frowned, bringing up a very valid point. While the city streets may have been easy for New Yorkers and other business-folk who frequented the sleepless city to navigate, it seemed like a challenge for the three foreigners to figure out and Hikaru was doing the best that he could with his limited knowledge of the city.

Slightly irritated, Hikaru glanced back at the two and rolled his eyes, "Well then why don't _you_ lead us, if you're going to complain about what I'm doing."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Kaoru sighed, letting go of Sei's hand for a moment while he and his brother stared each other down.

"Yeah? Well what am I supposed to think when every 2 minutes you and Nanami-chan are questioning me and the direction we're going in?"

The younger Hitachiin rolled his eyes, "Oh stop being such a baby, Hikaru." While his voice held an underlying tone of exhaustion, there was no denying the twitch of his lips that signified that he found this argument to be rather amusing—purely for the fact that it was so _childish_.

"Baby? _I'm_ the _older_ one, if you've forgotten."

"Yeah? Well, mentally you're years younger than me." Kaoru shot back, his lips twitching into a smirk.

Hikaru rolled his eyes and waved off his brother's comment dismissively, "Whatever you say. Oi, Nanami, who do you think is the more mature one? Me, right?"

The two boys turned their attention to where Sei _should_ have been, only to realize that she wasn't there, or anywhere in the immediate vicinity from what they could tell. Hikaru blinked, his gaze shifting over to his brother who was frantically looking around for their burgundy haired friend. Kaoru felt as if he were being suffocated by his own panic-stricken thoughts, his erratically beating heart felt as if it had dropped into his stomach, his hands were cold and clammy and his mouth felt as dry as the Sahara.

"Nanami? Nanami! _Sei_! Oi, where are you?" Hikaru cupped his hands around his mouth and called out in japanese, ignoring the stares he was receiving from the people walking by.

"Nanami!" Kaoru cried out in panic before turning to his brother, "What if she was kidnapped? This city is big and full of weirdos, what if someone _deliberately_ took her? What if they know who _she_ is and who _we_ are and are holding her for ransom?"

As serious as the situation was, Hikaru snorted at his brother's over exaggeration, "Now you're beginning to sound like _Tono_."

Kaoru didn't find that comment very funny, and instead began to dash around the block, describing Sei's appearance to complete strangers and asking them if they had seen her. How did he _not_ see her slipping away into the crowd? Had he and his brother really been _that_ distracted by their argument to not notice her disappearance?

Despite Hikaru's wise-cracks he too felt a sense of dread wash over him when they neared the 5 minute marker of Sei's disappearance and there was still no sign of her. He wasn't the type to jump to conclusions or overreact to really _anything_ [except when the possibility of losing his brother arose!], but then again neither was Kaoru, so he didn't really know _how_ to react or how he _should_ be reacting. He shoved his hands into his pockets, fishing out his cellphone and punching in Sei's number, impatiently tapping his foot against the pavement as he waited on the dial tone.

_Hello, this is Tsukyoshii Nanami, sorry I'm not he—_

He hung up and started typing away at the keypad, _Oi, where'd you run off to? You've got Kaoru thinking that you were kidnapped. Call/text back so we know you're not dead. _Hikaru pressed 'send' and shoved his phone back into his pocket, hoping that she'd respond soon before his brother spontaneously combusted from freaking out so much. Though, he reasoned, that if Tamaki hadn't exploded yet from all of his overreacting over the years then Kaoru probably had nothing to worry about…

"_Shit_. Where _is_ she?" Kaoru bit his lip, returning to his brother's side completely out of breath from running up and down the sidewalk in a frantic blur, searching for his fiancée.

"Hey guys! Guess what!"

The twins whipped their heads to the side so fast that they both simultaneously felt their necks cramp up, but they ignored the uncomfortable pain and focused their attention on who had just appeared at the end of the sidewalk, waving cheerfully as if she _hadn't_ just disappeared for 10 minutes without telling them where she was going. Hikaru rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest at her appearance while his twin ran up to her and enveloped her in a tight embrace, pulling her close to him so tight that she felt as if she were about to suffocate from lack of oxygen.

"Where have you been? We were so worried! What if you were taken? Or killed? Or sold into prostitution!"

"I, haha, what?" She snorted, "I'm sorry for worrying you, someone knocked me away from you guys and I ended up getting lost in the crowd. _But_! I have great news; I found the store while I was lost! It's one street over." She bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly, pointing in the direction that she'd just come from, "C'mon I didn't even get to go inside yet because I was so excitedly about finding you to tell you about it, so let's go!"

Hikaru and Kaoru were both just starting to recover from their previous scare of losing her and barely had time to register that she had reattached herself to their arms and was now dragging them in the direction of where she had indicated that the store was located.

"You know, you scared the shit out of us. I think you should at least apologize for worrying us." Kaoru pouted, tilting his head to the side and glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

She rolled her eyes, "You know it wasn't my fault that I got separated from the two of you. And it's not like you were paying any attention to me at the time anyway, you two were arguing about something stupid to even notice that I was gone." Sei drew in a breath and let it out, her lips quirking into a smirk, "But fine, I'm sorry for worrying you guys. I didn't mean to. There, happy?"

"Yes, very." The boys answered in unison as the trio came to a stop in front of the very building they'd been searching for for the past half hour. Sei let out an uncharacteristically girly shriek, making both boys crack a smile at her enthusiasm before they were pulled through the doors by their over exuberant friend.

Sei was all over the place, gushing over the Lion King plushies, the Little Mermaid t-shirts, and the Alice in Wonderland charm bracelets. Hikaru and Kaoru hung back, the store was already quite crowded and it was near impossible for them to keep up with Sei, she'd stop for a moment or two to gawk at something and then she'd disappear once again to admire something else. From where they stood they had a pretty good view of the entire store and could easily keep an eye on her, ensuring that she didn't pull another Houdini like she had earlier.

Hikaru leaned into his brother, "She seems happy."

"Yeah, she does." Kaoru's lips curled into an adoring smile as he watched the burgundy haired Host flit from one side of the store to the other, grabbing at various Disney toys that she planned on buying.

Sei, in truth, would've loved to buy one or two of _everything_ in the store and she probably could have with some of the inheritance money that she'd come in to but she didn't want to go overboard so she settled on just buying a few things to satisfy her craving for Disney merchandise. Her fingers curled around the soft plush of a Simba cub plushie, deciding almost instantaneously that this was what she wanted for herself and cradling it in her arm like a baby. Well, she'd found her souvenir but she wanted to buy something for Sai and Kani, they were just as big into Disney as she was and knew that they'd be jealous once they heard that she had gone to the New York City Disney store. Sure, Japan had Disney stores but the merchandise wasn't the same as what was being sold here in the states, it was different.

Emerald eyes darted across the store once again, trying to decide what the best gifts for her brother and Kani would be. Now that she had what she wanted she could focus solely on figuring out what they'd appreciate the most, she knew Kaniya would be fairly easy—her favorite movie of all time was Finding Nemo, a movie that she watched almost constantly whenever she had some down time. Sei found the section of the store that was dedicated to that particular movie and snatched a giant Nemo plushie from the pile, something she could definitely see Kaniya cuddling with on a daily basis.

"Well, that was easy. Now what to get Sai…" She mumbled to herself, examining each and every corner of the Disney store once again to find the perfect gift for her twin. He loved Lion King just as much as she did, but it wasn't his _favorite_ movie of all time, that and she didn't really want to get him the same thing that she had gotten for herself because then it'd seem a little less original. The problem was was that most of the merchandise was from the more recent Disney movies rather than the classics like Aladdin or Beauty and the Beast and while they could appreciate the art and storyline of the newer movies she and Sai still preferred the classics.

But there was one movie that she knew could always reduce her brother to a blathering, crying mess each and every time he watched it. While it _was_ a newer movie, having had come out just a few years prior, she knew it was on Sai's top 10 list of Disney movies and the good news was that there was a shelf dedicated to that movie. Sei slipped through a group of parents and their children and plucked a Bolt plush off of the shelf, protectively holding it and the other two toys to her chest while making her way back over to Hikaru and Kaoru.

"That's all you're getting? I would've figured that you'd want to buy out half the store, especially with the way you were running around earlier when we first got here." Hikaru laughed.

"Well, I figured I'd be a good sport and leave something for the other kids." She answered offhandedly, her lips twitching into a smile, "Anyways, I got something for me and for Sai and Kaniya."

"There you two are! I went all the way to your hotel and the girl at the front desk said that you three had left for the Disney store, I didn't believe it at first because I thought only kids shopped here—" Selena cast a pointed glance in Sei's direction before returning her attention to the twins,"—but here you are. Anyways, my publicist arranged for a spontaneous CD signing meet and greet sort of thing for later tonight and I need the two of you to make me look fabulous." She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a quick motion, her bubble-gum pink glossed lips quirking into a flirtatious smile.

Hikaru turned to this brother who shrugged his shoulders and then turned to Sei, speaking to her in their native tongue, "_You don't mind, right? I mean, you're done shopping anyway, yeah_?"

Truth was was that she would have liked to stay a little longer to make sure that she'd seen everything there was to see in the store…and then maybe explore the city a bit more, but this was the twins' first _official_ job as Selena's stylists and she knew how important this job was to them…so she nodded her head, "_Of course! Just let me pay for these real quick and then we'll leave, ne?"_

The blonde popstar frowned, wishing that the three foreigners would speak in english so that she could know what they were saying, not that she really cared what the childish burgundy haired fiancée to the younger twin really had to say. But it would've been nice if they spoke English since they _were_ in America now and all…

She watched as Sei shuffled off towards the checkout counter, carrying the three stuffed animals and hugging them to her chest possessively before laying them out on the counter to make her purchase. Selena turned back to the twins, her lips painted with a bright grin, "I'm so excited to be working with you two! I've heard great things about you both and your sense of style."

Hikaru ran a hand through his hair and grinned sheepishly while his brother laughed, seemingly embarrassed by the compliment. The older of the two boys tilted his head and replied, "Aw, thanks princess. Don't worry, with the two of us at your side there'll never be a day when you _don't_ look great."

She seemed happy with the answer because her eyes lit up and she excitedly responded with, "That's good to hear! It's good to know that I'll be safe in your hands."

"Alright, all set!" Sei beamed, clutching the handle of the Disney bag in her hands that held the three plushies that she'd just bought as she wandered back over to the small group.

Kaoru grinned, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him, "_Sorry about the change in plans, I'll make it up to you, promise."_

"_No worries, I know how important this is—it's why we're here in the first place after all_!" She grinned up at him, "_Though…I'm going to hold you to that! I expect a most glorious night filled with Disney and icecream and kisses to make up for the fact that our fun day was cut short!"_

He laughed, leaning over and kissing her nose, "_Deal._"

Hikaru rolled his eyes despite the smile painted on his lips, he leaned close to Selena and spoke, "Sorry 'bout those two, they get like that sometimes. Anyway, if we start walking they'll get the hint and follow us. So, shall we?"

Her hazel eyes remained on the two exchanging quiet words in Japanese for a moment or two before she tore her gaze away and nodded to Hikaru, "We shall! Let's get going, we've got a lot to do before I have to be at the meet and greet."

"Leave it all to us." Hikaru could feel his stomach bubbling with excitement, adrenalin rushing through him from anticipation of their first official job as stylists. It was quite nerve-racking to think about, really. They needed to make her look positively amazing or else they'll have failed to do what they were sent here for in the first place. Selena's outfits and sense of style _needed_ to be the talk of the celebrity world, it was their goal to not only make her look outstanding but for them to also get their name out there so that potential clients could see what a fantastic job they could do. The boys had confidence in themselves, they had grown up in the fashion industry thanks to their mother, so they knew that they had impeccable senses of style but it really wasn't up to _them_—it was how the public perceived their masterpieces that really mattered…

You could be the greatest at what you do but without the proper recognition you'll never make it very far and it was that recognition that the boys were looking for. For far too long they had lived in their mother's shadow, it was about time that they pulled away from the name Hitachiin Yuzuha and made one for themselves.

"What time do you need to be there?" Hikaru asked as he and Selena shuffled towards the door, ignoring Kaoru and Sei as they followed a few paces behind them, still lost in their own world.

"Roughly 3 hours from now my publicist will come pick me up and we'll head over to the venue where this is gonna be held. So, I mean, I've still got some time but I didn't know how you two worked so I figured the earlier I found you the better, just in case." She laughed.

"Hm, we can probably have everything done in two to two and a half hours. Don't want to look _too_ flashy for your first appearance." Hikaru craned his neck, glance over his shoulder at his brother, "You hear that? We've got a little less than three hours to get everything done, so get your head out of the clouds."

Kaoru rolled his eyes at his brother's playful tone, "Gotcha."

The four teens made it out of the crowded store relatively unscathed despite the fact that they had to squeeze through the tiny gaps between people to get out. Outside, a long black stretch limo waited for them, the chauffeur standing beside the back door expectantly, greeting them with a nod of the head and a friendly smile before opening the door to let them climb inside. Hikaru stood back, motioning for Selena to get in first as an act of being gentlemanly before sliding in next to her, followed by Sei and Kaoru.

"Most of our stuff is at our hotel room, do you mind if we stop by there first and grab a few things before heading over to the studio?" Kaoru leaned forward, turning his face so that he'd have a better view of their blonde charge.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't mind. In fact, if it's easier for you guys we could just get me all made up in your room—it'd save a lot of time because that way we wouldn't have to make two trips."

"Fine by me." Both boys responded in unison, identical grins painted their lips.

Since their hotel was only a few blocks away it took them no time to arrive at the front entrance to the 5 star hotel where the doors were opened almost immediately for them by the Chauffeur once again. Sei slid out of the seat first, followed by Kaoru who was holding her hand, and then Hikaru and Selena.

"I'll call you if I need to be picked up early, otherwise I'll be catching a ride with my publicist." Selena said, offhandedly, to the driver who nodded and muttered a, 'have a nice day, miss' before shuffling around the vehicle and driving off. She plastered on a bright and excited grin when she turned back to the twins, "Alright, shall we get started, then?"

The boys nodded eagerly, ushering her inside the lobby of the hotel, "We're on the top floor, the penthouse suite." Hikaru grinned, glancing over at her to gauge her reaction, she seemed rather impressed by the fact that they were staying in the most expensive and lavishly decorated room the hotel had to offer.

Sei stayed quiet, listening to the boys as they excitedly started rattling off ideas of how they should dress Selena, what they should do with her hair, and how they should apply her makeup. She found their enthusiasm to be quite cute and was glad that they had been given this opportunity, it was such a big step for them and she found herself feeling incredibly proud of the two boys that she'd come to love unconditionally over the past year.

"Well, here we are!" Hikaru laughed, taking out his card key and swiping it on the card reader attached to the handle of the door. Sei blinked, she hadn't even realized that they'd arrived on their floor let alone by elevator—_I must've spaced out for a minute there._ She mused.

"You coming?"

She glanced up to find Kaoru leaning against the doorframe, his lips curved into an amused smile, "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just spacing out." She replied dismissively before leaning forward, "Now don't you have a popstar to style?"

Kaoru jumped, almost as if he had _just_ remembered that he and his brother were on a time limit and needed to start right away. He gave her a quick peck on the lips before dashing inside the hotel room to help his brother go through their recent designs for Selena. Laughing, Sei shuffled inside, closing the door behind her and wandering into the bedroom where she dropped her bag on the floor beside her suitcase. Yasai, who'd been curled up on her bed fast asleep, perked up at her entrance and stretched out with a yawn before sitting up and tilting his head to the side cutely.

"Oh wow, you've got a pet fox? I didn't know those could be domesticated." Selena peaked into the room from the hallway that joined the living room to the back of the penthouse where the bedrooms were.

The emerald eyed teen jumped, startled by the blonde's sudden appearance which oddly reminded Sei of Tamaki-senpai, and she realized that she actually _missed_ that knucklehead. She missed all of her friends from the Host Club and regretted not being able to properly say goodbye to them before leaving for the U.S. _Wow, some friend I am, leaving without saying goodbye…_

"Well, ordinarily it wouldn't exactly be a good idea to keep a wild animal as a pet but the circumstances were different with him." Sei answered, not really feeling up to explaining the whole story of how she and her brother had come to adopt the fox in the first place.

Either Selena picked up on the fact that Sei just didn't want to explain the subject further, or she had no interest in the matter in the first place, because the blond turned on her heel and stalked back into the other room where the twins were currently huddled over the dining room table, planning out her outfit for the night.

She felt her cellphone vibrate against her pant leg and quickly dug her fingers into her pocket to fish it out.

_Hii Nana-chan! Sorry I haven't texted/called in a while, things have been pretty hectic D:! How's New York treating you?_

The corners of her lips curved into a smile when she saw that the text was from Kaniya and it made her miss the blond model and Sai even more than she already did, if that was even possible. Sei never realized how much she really depended on having Sai and the rest of her friends being there with her until she left home, leaving them behind as well. She knew that it wasn't a permanent thing and that in less than 2 months she'd be back in Japan with her brother and closest friends but 2 months seemed so far away, especially when they had _just_ gotten to New York…

She shook her head in an attempt to dislodge those treacherous thoughts from her mind, flipping open her keypad and typing up a reply to Kaniya.

_It's alright—it's big and busy! The twins and I went to the Disney store earlier, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven lol! But now we're back at the hotel so they can figure out an outfit for Selena tonight._

Sei placed her phone down on the dresser beside her before sitting next to Yasai on the mattress, absently stroking his back while staring off into space. This was the first time she'd ever gone out of the country without her mother or Sai and she felt like she was being a big baby for mentally complaining and feeling homesick.

"Haha, oh you two are _too_ amazing!" Selena's sickly sweet voice pierced through her thoughts, bringing Sei back to reality just in time to hear a rather flirtatious giggle come from the blond popstar. Sei leaned to the side, subtly glancing through the doorway and down the hallway where she noticed the blond leaning into the twins and smiling brightly.

"I'm so glad I've got the two of you all to myself, you're fashion _geniuses_!" She gushed, clasping her hands together infront of her and peering down at the designs lying on the table.

_What's she up to…?_ Sei's lips curved into a frown as she watched the three teens in the other room interact with each other.

She couldn't see the boys faces, but from the momentary silence between the three Sei could guess that Kaoru was blushing at the compliment and Hikaru was probably smirking at the recognition—they were both flattered by the compliment, albeit a tad oblivious to Selena's flirtatious undertone.

Her phone buzzed against the wooden surface of the dresser, a loud and unexpected noise that jostled her away from her observations and brought her attention back to her cellphone.

_Oh yeah? I hope you bought me something! :3  
What's Selena like? I loovveee her music! Is she a sweetheart?_

She bit her lip; she'd only just met Selena and didn't think that she knew enough about the girl to actually have a true opinion about her personality quite yet but…

_She's…a tad overwhelming and incredibly bold. _

Sei didn't have to wait very long for a reply from Kani, moments later she felt her cellphone buzzing against her palm.

_Bold? How so? What's she doing?_

Sei leaned to the side so that she could get a better view of the twins and the bold blond in the other room and she felt her stomach drop. Selena was biting her lip cutely and batting her eyelashes flirtatiously at the boys who were both grinning like idiots at something she had said.

_She's shamelessly flirting with the twins and she __**knows**__ that me and Kaoru are engaged!_

She was beyond frustrated and just wanted to let Selena know that she wasn't going to sit back and just let her try to take the boys away from her, as selfish as that sounded. Sei felt somewhat bad for disliking the American as much as she did, especially after only having just met her but she just couldn't help the way she felt and her feelings for the blonde likely wouldn't be changing any time soon.

_Then be more assertive. __**Show**__ Miss Popstar that Tsukyoshii Nanami doesn't play around. __**Show**__ her that you mean business and that she has no right to target the Hitachiins._

Kaniya's text message got Sei to start thinking but the thought behind it really wasn't _her_ thing, she's wasn't a very 'catty' person to begin with so she'd have to be more subtle about it. The 16 year old bit her lip and furrowed her brows in contemplation, trying to decide what her next move should be.

Her phone buzzed against her palm once more.

_Don't wait to act; if you do then it may be too late._

A cold chill ran up her spine and it took her a moment to identify exactly what she was feeling after reading that text; it was fear.


End file.
